Josh Talks Leap: A powwow with stories

Talk shows are boring, right?
Wrong.
This was the general response when we talked to people attending Josh Talks Leap 2016 at the Tyagraj Stadium, INA. The event was spread over the last weekend with over twenty four speakers. The organisers rightfully took pride over the fact that this was a sort of antithesis to the general scene of a filled auditorium at the beginning and a scattered void at the end.

A well chalked out venue, apt timing in sync with the climate in the capital, a wide number of food stalls serving multiple cuisines, the professionalism in the volunteers, and most importantly a list of speakers from almost all the fields that touch lives validated the amount of brain that had been put in. The event also revealed the experience of the past years which the organisers had capitalised upon.

Witty, humorous and patient, the JTL could not have a better face than Deepak Ramola, an educator and an outstanding poet, who maintained the aura all through. He was interactive and charming. “Now you don’t always see the hosts getting this lot of applauds, cheers and smiles,” said the person sitting in the audience.

This probably was one of the most prolific gamut of speakers in the seminars of the recent times. Everyone had a tale to tell. The energy with which Shofia Asraf summed up her entire rap-for-society carrier, instigating everyone to start caring about things that really mattered generated epidemic goosebumps. Whether with her unsponsering of Dow’ Chemicals, the firm responsible for Bhopal Gas Tragedy or her Uniliver bashing, she was strong and effective. The little girl of 11 in Ishita Katyal, already a bestseller author of “Simran’s Diary” and a Tech Global summit speaker, left the audience in awe when she put forward her strong views on the condition of kids reared in poverty around the world. Anurag Kashyap, evidently the most awaited speaker of the show was innocently honest. “No one cares for your dreams but you. And en route to following your passion, the most difficult part is the one between loving what you do and money coming out of it. That’s when most people give up”. This was Mr. Kashyap at his retrospective self.

The pragmatic director beautifully depicted his life, dreams, struggle and failure. Akkai Padmashali, the transgender trailblazer, talked about the discriminatory approach which the nation has been taking against the third sex.

There were even moments of pride when Sheelika Ravishankar took to the stage with Indi, the rover which was going to be the first Indian on the moon under the Indus mission of Lunar X programme. The event concluded with a surprise performance by Papa CJ, the famous English comedian. The hysteria of laughter that followed summed up the two day extravaganza.

With lessons for young artists, writers, athletes, technocrats, entrepreneurs and dreamers, Josh Talks Leap 2016 was successful in kindling those stories and making them heard. One could clearly see the satisfaction on the faces of the audience at the end of the show. “I am coming here again”, someone was heard saying.

Kriti Sharma is studying BCom (Hons) at Hansraj College. She has a myriad interests, writing being just one of them. A debater, a scholar, a fashionista, she is more of an outdoors person who likes to run 6-8 km a day, just to clear her head. She is an ‘Army Brat’, but an unlikely one. Reading a book by lantern light in a tent by the banks of river Indus after a hard day’s trek in the mountains is her idea of bliss. She wants to be an investment banker but admits that writing lets her escape into a world of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’.

About us

DU Beat is an independent student run newspaper based in Delhi University. One of the largest campus publications in India, we are strong believers of Freedom of Expression. Follow us for news, analysis and opinion from Delhi University and much more for the student community!